Friday Photo: Punalu'u Black Sands Hawaii

This is a photo of me taken on the Big Island of Hawaii on Punalu'u black sand beach.  I don't recall how old I was but it must have been near the time when we visited on vacation or shortly near the time we moved to Hawaii based on how white I look.  I remember the sand being so warm and I loved to dig my toes deep into it.  Punalu'u means "diving spring" because of the abundance of fresh water springs just off shore.  The ancient Hawaiians would take a stoppered gourd and dive to the spring to fill it with fresh water to drink.  This video from YouTube explains some of the history.  This beach is not only famous for it's black sand but it's a haven for Green Sea Turtles that come up onto the shore to lay their eggs.  There is a lot of culture and history in this area and I wish I had only known more when I lived there. It's been 15 years since we moved back to Colorado from Hawaii and it still is often in my dreams.

Hawaii, I miss it.

-Ian

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Friday Photo: Stanley Hotel at Night

This week I wanted to share some holiday cheer and give us some Christmas in August to help cool us down a little.  I took this picture in December of 2007 when we stayed at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado near Christmas time.  It really is such a magical place in more ways than one.  The hotel was built in 1909 by the famed creator of the Stanley Steamer automobile for about $500,000 in cash, that's nearly 12 million by today's standards!!  Steven King's "The Shining" was written in room 217 and the hotel in the book was modeled after The Stanley Hotel but the famous movie made in 1980 with Jack Nicholson was not filmed at the Stanley.  Steven King re-shot The Shining at the Stanley Hotel and aired it in 1997 as a mini-series as he intended it to be.

I say it is a magical place in more ways than one because being there gives you a sense of what it was like in the early 1900's with all the ornate decorations and the preservation of the of all the main features.  The majestic views as you walk out the front door over looking the Estes Park valley are breathtaking!!  There are even reported hauntings in the hotel.

"The ghosts in the Stanley Hotel aren't evil as in the book. Room 418 seems to have the most ghostly activity reported. In fact, the entire fourth floor of the Stanley Hotel (formerly the servants quarters) is quite active. Often, the sound of children playing in the halls of the Stanley can be heard, even when no children are present."

We actually stayed just a couple of rooms down from 418!!  The night I took these photos it was very cold.  The wind was blowing as it sometimes does in the mountain towns but it made for some really interesting shots and with it being so cold no one was outside so I could get as many shots as I wanted of the front of the hotel without any passer-by's, that just meant I was an ice cube by the time I was done.  We have made it a tradition in Christie's family to rent a room in the Stanley near Christmas time because they have the place decorated with lights and have a very large Christmas tree in the lobby.  I can't wait for this coming December to stay there again..... maybe this time I will run into a ghost!

You can see more photos in the gallery!

- Ian